ISLE FILE
Long Beach St. tops UH in volleyball
Advertiser Staff
Josh Riley pounded 19 kills to power Long Beach State to a 26-30, 30-23, 30-24, 30-21 volleyball victory over visiting Hawai'i last night in the Walter Pyramid.
The 49ers swept the two-match series to improve to 7-5 and 6-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
The Warriors fell to 3-8 and 2-6.
The Warriors entered their second road trip refreshed (they had a bye last weekend) and with momentum (they swept a two-match series from Cal State Northridge).
But a breakdown in passing led to a combined .112 hitting in the final two sets.
"They upgraded their serving, and maybe that caused us to downgrade our passing," UH coach Mike Wilton said.
Left-side hitter Gus Tuaniga, who was benched against Northridge because of academic concerns, hammered a team-high 18 kills and provided steady passing. But the other left-side hitter, Steven Hunt, struggled (nine kills, 10 errors), and the Warriors had difficulty establishing a block.
Middle blocker Matt "Dragon" Rawson did not practice because of stomach-flu-like symptoms. The Warriors were out-blocked, 16-3.
The outcome was a disappointment. "I have to admit it," Wilton said. "We're doing the two-steps-forward, two-steps-backward thing, for sure."
Because of a scheduling quirk, the Warriors' next match is against Stanford Feb. 26 and 28. They play only four matches in February.
HAWAI'I (3-8, 2-6) 30 23 24 21
LONG BEACH ST. (7-5, 6-3) 26 30 30 30
Team blocks — Hawai'i 3.0, Long Beach State 16.0. Assist leaders — Hawai'i 55 (Carney 48), Long Beach State (Klipsch 48). Time — 2:00. Att. — 1,022.
Key — G: Games. K-E-A: Kills-Errors-Attempts. Pct.: Hitting percentage (Kills minus errors divided by attempts). BS: Block solo. BA: Block assist. D: Dig. SA: Ace. SE: Service error.
SOFTBALL
UH DROPS TWO
The University of Hawai'i softball team (1-6) dropped a pair of games at the 2009 Louisville Slugger Desert Classic yesterday in Henderson, Nev.
The Rainbow Wahine fell to 13th-ranked Northwestern, 6-2, in their opening game, and were shut out, 8-0, by Kentucky.
Against Northwestern, UH's Courtney Baughman threw four innings with no walks and four strikeouts. But a pair of three-run innings gave Northwestern (3-1) all the runs it would need.
In the second game, Kentucky (2-0) scored seven first-inning runs en route to the victory.
UH's Melissa Gonzalez got the start, but did not finish the first inning, and suffered her third loss of the season. She gave up seven runs, of which just three were earned, with two walks.
BASEBALL
UH-HILO SPLITS TWINBILL
Jeff Hanna went 2 for 3 and drove in three runs as Hawai'i-Hilo beat George Fox, 6-3, yesterday in the first game of a baseball doubleheader at Hilo's Wong Stadium.
George Fox (2-1) won the second game, 6-5.
The Vulcans are 1-3.
• • •
